Author: Sofia
Photo: SOLRITE Illinois homeowners can now get rooftop solar paired with a whopping 60-kWh home battery for no money down – but this isn’t free equipment. Texas-based Solrite Energy has launched its solar-plus-storage program for qualifying homeowners in ComEd and Ameren Illinois territories. Solrite finances, owns, and maintains the system, while the homeowner buys the solar power it generates for 12 cents per kWh under a 25-year agreement. That rate can rise by up to 2.9% each year. Customers will also continue to receive a utility bill for grid electricity and other applicable charges. The standout is the battery. At…
SpaceX’s massive investment in AI will make it a big winner, Argus Research said after the company’s successful earnings call last week. The firm also upgraded shares to a Buy from Hold and set a $160 price target. SpaceX (NASDAQ: SPCX) is currently recovering from its heavy AI infrastructure investments, as it spent nearly $16 billion in Q2 alone. The company did this primarily by monetizing high-demand GPU compute capacity at a much faster pace than traditional data center economics would suggest. Company CFO Bret Johnsen said that SpaceX would be able to pay back anything on new deployments within…
Aptera has unveiled its first large strategic investor. The California startup partnered with China’s Launch Design to fast-track the production of the three-wheeled solar EV. Launch Design is investing millions of dollars into Aptera and offering access to its production facilities. Aptera, the California startup that’s been working for over a decade to make a solar-powered electric vehicle, has a new partner that should help it assemble the famed three-wheeler faster, more efficiently, and more importantly—cheaper. The small California outfit has partnered with China’s Launch Design, a design-for-manufacturing company established in 2000, which specializes in developing and delivering turnkey solutions…
BYD is pushing into serious luxury-car territory with the Da Han. It’s the brand’s new flagship electric sedan that combines huge power, a lavish cabin and an impressive claimed range. Presales have now opened in China, with prices starting at 249,900 yuan, or around $37,170. The Da Han follows BYD’s latest Dragon Face design language. Slim headlights, a chrome “Dragon Whiskers” panel and semi-hidden door handles give it a distinctive appearance, while buyers can choose from five exterior colours and 20- or 21-inch wheels. It also features air suspension and rear-wheel steering. The interior is even more ambitious. Up to…
Tesla has discontinued the Solar Roof, its solar-tile roofing product, Electrek has learned. The company has told third-party installers that it will no longer supply solar roof tiles going forward, only solar panels, according to two sources close to the program. Two sources confirm the end of the Solar Roof Two sources close to the program confirmed to Electrek that Tesla has informed its network of certified third-party installers that solar roof tiles are no longer available to order, and that the company will supply only conventional solar panels moving forward. One of the sources said that internally, Tesla has…
Photo: Kempower Colorado’s largest electric school bus fleet has a new charging hub to keep its 28 buses ready to run their daily routes. Denver Public Schools (DPS) has installed 26 charging plugs at its Hilltop Bus Terminal, backed by a Kempower distributed charging system with a total power capacity of 650 kilowatts. Electrical systems provider Winn-Marion led the project, while PowerFlex manages the depot’s smart charging and energy use. The charging hub is ready ahead of the district’s first day of school on August 24. DPS recently added 25 Blue Bird Vision electric school buses to its three existing…
Fast sedans aren’t anything new. In fact, go-fast sedans have been some of the cars that have impressed me the most doing this job. The BMW M5 CS, Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing, W223 Mercedes-AMG S63, and most recently the Lucid Air Pure all blew me away. I haven’t driven a Lucid Air Sapphire yet, but it’s reached the top of my to-do list after seeing what it just did in the hands of Car and Driver’s team. During their instrumented testing, the Sapphire not only surpassed 200 mph—impressive enough for an electric sedan—it did so and then came to a stop…
Tesla laid out an updated timeline for Full Self-Driving, its Cybercab, and the Optimus robot in a recent meeting with JPMorgan at its Fremont factory. The bank walked away with claims that FSD v15 is a “step-change,” that today’s HW4 computer can handle unsupervised driving, and that Optimus could go on sale to outside buyers as soon as the second half of 2027. Most of it repeats promises Tesla has made, and missed, before. FSD v15: a “step-change,” according to Tesla Tesla told JPMorgan that FSD v15 is a major jump in capability, built on seven “core technologies,” with about…
Daniel Golson/Jalopnik The Bugatti Veyron is a car made up of superlatives. More than one-thousand horsepower, a top speed in excess of two-hundred and fifty miles per hour, sixteen cylinders and four turbochargers, a million-dollar pricetag way before that was the norm — and those are just the standout figures. Then there’s all of the absurd little engineering miracles that made its performance possible, all of the small design details that made a big difference. But one aspect of the Veyron that’s brought up more than maybe anything else is the maintenance requirements. When your supercar is this advanced, and has…
Volvo’s parent company, Geely, will begin piloting a new solid-state battery. Geely says that it will test the battery “across portfolio brands” starting next year. The ultra-dense battery is slated to deliver over 600 miles on a single charge. Solid-state batteries have been that major breakthrough in EV battery tech automakers have teased as “just a few years away” for…well more than “just a few years.” For a few brands, the wait may soon finally pay off. Geely is getting ready to validate the technology it on the road. The Chinese auto conglomerate says that it will begin a pilot deployment of…